


River Fish

by stapling_pages



Series: Hyakki Yagyo [1]
Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Demons, Gen, Pre-Series, child!Hibari
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-26
Updated: 2013-07-03
Packaged: 2017-12-16 05:12:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/858184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stapling_pages/pseuds/stapling_pages
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There is a kappa in the koi pond. He is Kyoya's first friend and from him, the young carnivore learns to bite back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Eyes

Kyoya was six when he realized he was different from his cousins, that something was wrong with him.

It happened mid-summer, when the air was clogged with humidity and the sun hanged low in the sky. The heat had sweltered to a record high, forcing the shoji doors open for airflow. His cousins lazed about in the courtyard wearing thin tank tops and shorts, laughing and mucking about as they always did. Kyoya sat quietly at his mother's elbow, sipping a small glass of cold green tea and peach juice. His head ached from the heat and the obi of his yukata was tied too tightly.

He wanted to go play with his cousins, wanted to run around and not have to listen to the adults drone on and on about politics or economics – whatever those were. But his father had made it very clear that he wasn't allowed to do that. Father was always giving him extra rules to follow, or harsher punishments if he did something wrong. Kyoya didn't think it was fair, but no one argued with Father except for Uncle Fon and he hadn't visited for a long time. So Kyoya kept his head down and mouth shut like a good child should while trying not to sneak jealous looks at his cousins.

Maybe if he hadn't looked then things would be different. Maybe if he had been just a second slower in looking up or if he'd looked away just that much sooner. Maybe, maybe, maybe. The world didn't deal in maybes.

Kyoya glanced through his long fringe at the small group of his relatives lying by the koi pond. Aimi and Saki were sitting a little ways away from the others, on two of the larger rocks that created the pond's bank, giggling to each other as they spun thin sections of their long black hair into tiny braids. They broke into fresh pearls of laughter, and Kyoya began to turn away when he noticed something rising out of the shallow waters.

At first, he wasn't sure what it was, but as it continued to emerge he realized that it was a hand. A small, webbed hand covered in greenish blue scales that gleamed like smooth, wet marbles. The clawed fingers brushed the ends of Saki's swaying braids, closing around air before opening to try again. Kyoya gaped silently at the strange sight, unaware that his drink had slipped from his numb fingers and splashed across the veranda.

"Kyoya, what is the matter with you?" his mother exclaimed, jerking away from the spreading liquid. Wide eyed, he turned to her.

"There's something in the pond!"

His aunts and uncles chuckled indulgently before returning to their boring conversation, leaving his mother to sigh heavily. "No, there is not," she said.

"But, Mother –"

"No." She was frowning now, cold and dark in a way that reminded him of the tense stare-downs between his father and Uncle Fon. Kyoya fell silent.

In the background, Saki shrieked.


	2. Midnight

Kyoya did his best to avoid the koi pond for as long as he could stand, resolute in his desire to ignore his burning curiosity and not get into further trouble with his parents. He rather thought that he was doing well, up until he paused by a window on his way back to his room from the kitchen late one night. The courtyard, which was always so carefully maintained, looked even colder at night.

It reminded Kyoya a little of his cousins, who never played with him if they could help it and if they had to, made sure he knew he wasn't welcome. His aunts and uncles were like that too, expect for Uncle Fon. When he was there, Uncle Fon usually spent most of his time with Kyoya either reading to him or telling him about the places his uncle had been to or even just sitting on the veranda, sipping tea and eating sweets while they talked about whatever came to mind.

Quietly, he pushed open the shoji doors and walked to the ponds edge. The water was still and dark, with only faint flashes of pale orange and white fish scales visible in the dim light. Kyoya hovered uncertainly, picking at the fraying sleeve of his sleeping yukata.

"Hello?" he said. Nothing happened. Was it asleep? Had he imagined it? His mother had said that there was nothing besides fish in there but… Kyoya frowned. "Hello?" Still nothing. He gave the fishpond a frustrated look, and left to go back to his room. He would try again tomorrow.

The next night, the child arrived at the pool armed with a plate of melon daifuku and cucumber sushi left over from dinner and a thermos of green tea sweetened with mango nectar. He wasn't sure what whatever-it-was ate, but you were supposed to bring gifts when you visited someone's house for the first time and most people liked food well enough not to mind what it was. Excited, Kyoya plopped down at the pond's edge.

"Hello?" Mother and Father were gone for the night, so Kyoya didn't bother to keep his voice down. The water seemed to shiver a little, before two large silvery eyes opened to peer at him from the depths of the fishpond. Kyoya held his breath and stared back. The eyes blinked slowly as they grew closer.

Water sloshed about as the creature broke the surface. It was rather ugly, with fish-like eyes set wide and deep and a short, sharp beak in place of a mouth. A ring of coarse ragged hair surrounded a yellowish plate at the top of its head; the rest of its skin was smooth blue scales. An odd fin, like a dolphin's, sprouted from the base of its neck.

"Shouldn't the young master be asleep," it asked in a raspy, croaking voice that sounded like a bullfrog. It sounded almost disapproving.

"I want to know why you live in our koi pond," Kyoya said, imitating the firm tone his father used on his business partners; it came out more like a whine. He paused and awkwardly held out the plate of food, not really sure what to say.

"I am a kappa; we live in water. As for why I live here, specifically, I made an agreement with an ancestor of yours." As the creature – kappa, Kyoya reminded himself – spoke, it carefully selected a piece of sushi.

"And?"

"Patience, little Hibari." It paused to eat its selection. "In return for a home, I promised to make sure none of the little ones were lost by water." The child nodded, pretending to understand.

"Don't you get bored?"

"A little," the kappa admitted.

Frowning, Kyoya nibbled at a daifuku. They sat in silence, slowly eating their way through the sushi and daifuku as the moon meandered across the sky. The sweet tea with nearly finished when he nodded determinedly to himself. Turning back to the creature, he said: "My name is Kyoya."

The kappa blinked. "Those like myself usually have no need of a name, but the last Hibari who could see us called me Azuma."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Daifuku is a type of mochi (sweet rice cake) that's usually stuffed with sweetened red bean paste. A melon daifuku is has crushed melon in place of the bean paste.
> 
> Kappa are a type of yokai typically found in rivers/lakes/ponds/etc. See the wiki article for further information.
> 
> ". . .a yellowish plate. . ." - the biology definition is a platelike part, organ, or structure, such as that covering some reptiles. So yeah...


End file.
